As you may or may not know, I shoot audiophile products and events for a living, a still life audiophile pro, if you will. The non-rental cameras I use are: Sony A7r, Fujifilm X-T1, and Fujifilm X100s. The X100s is my favourite camera, but the X-T1, when used with the right adapter and lens, is a fine camera. For general still life, it is edged out by the A7r because of one thing: 100% zoom/pan preview.

I am writing a 3 or 4-part review of the Novoflex BALPRO T/S bellows adapter. For over a month I have shot a D800, A7r, and X-T1 attached to the bellows.

For part 1 of the review, all images and commentary refer to the BALPRO T/S and X-T1 in combination. All images shot in the review were taken by the Fujinon-EX 90/5,6 enlarger lens, which is a bugger to use with large flash units, but when modded properly is razor sharp, if not perfectly contrasty or clear.

For 50$, it's killer. It is likely I will use it and the BALPRO T/S in a large upcoming commercial shoot.

"While not perfectly suitable for minute stacking, it fits the more general needs of earphone/headphone photography perfectly. So perfectly in fact that I will be selling my tilt/shift setup, and am even thinking of parting with my 4x5 camera. Novoflex have paid assiduous attention to detail to every part of the system. Using the BALPRO T/S a joy. And, it is 100% reliable. In particular, the front standard focusing gears are wonderfully smooth. They never pitch forward or backward between grooves. The metal machining is flawless, and all parts are modular."

Indeed, the BALPRO is stable, well-suited to macro photography, modular, and imminently a better choice than the Horseman VCC Pro, which I reviewed here.